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I agree, that is what I have said before. I write for me and hope others will enjoy it. I try to improve with each work and since I do not do it for a living I am not restricted to some outside controlling group. I am glad that people are still reading my stories and upset that they are getting pirated but at least no one has told me to stop, not that I would if they did. I do it for the story!
Though I do need to improve on painting the picture instead of just telling the story. Thanks Manna, for that bit of advice it has helped.
As far as writing a novel, well, been there done that, a couple of times. I don't think that the length is the biggest issue.

Glad to hear there's a few like minds here.

Maybe the lack of audiences for written works is a curse of the medium, too. The furry fandom is a niche, and while art speaks for itself I think it can be hard to justify writing furry characters into a story. There's no difference between an anthro fox and a human in most cases - except smut.

I know that if I ever write a stunning science fiction piece that isn’t already furry for some reason, I’m not going to make everyone huskies and wolves so that I can post it on SoFurry or Weasyl. I’m going to leave them as humans and try to make money from selling it to the larger mainstream audience.

I don't think many people linger here once they become proficient at writing or have a name for themselves compared to artists. Just not something people think about.

Maybe the lack of audiences for written works is a curse of the medium, too. The furry fandom is a niche, and while art speaks for itself I think it can be hard to justify writing furry characters into a story. There's no difference between an anthro fox and a human in most cases - except smut.

eh, it depends on the writer. Furries lend themselves really well to dualism in literature because they represent the hybridization of two "opposite" concepts. A.A. Milne did a really good job of capturing that balance between human and animal intelligence in his books "Winnie the Pooh" and "The House at Pooh Corner" to create characters who met in the middle, so to speak, being clearly adult in their body function and autonomy but with a definite childlike innocence. It's the smoothest way to incorporate that concept, I think, and it's an angle I've gone for myself with my own work.

Altho you could also go for something more Richard Adams (Watership Down, Plague Dogs) where you have completely animal in form+behaviour and (almost) completely human in intelligence. That's less smooth obv because it has more pronounced ends of the spectrum but I mean that could totally be what you're going for and lend itself to your work

Not to be a rebel or something along those lines have you tried possibly tagging stories with m/m, gay, or anything along those lines on SF? I'm predominantly an erotic writer so I do decently on that site but I've observed a few things I've noticed about clean stories. First of all use the tag system correctly and even lie a little!

If your story doesn't focus on sex, don't advertise it. Instead use the tag system to focus on the core points of your story. Does it involve m/m relationships? Is the story a gay romance? Does your story involve exotic species or even common stereotyped species like foxes and wolves? Is it short? These are things you want to put in your tags. You do not want to put the following tags: Clean and No Yiff or other variance that would even imply that a character is not going to get nookie. It is like shooting yourself in the foot. Just don't do it. You know it is clean but the reader does not need to know this. The beauty of writing is not the words on the pages but your reader's imagination, exploit it without looking back. The bottom line is, sex sells.

Now tagging is not the only thing one needs to do to get readers. Use the pool system they have and advertise yourself. Socialize and social engineer your way into getting people interested in you first before you bring up writing or your stories. Now I'm not suggesting you do this consistently but I have gained a few followers using the following pitch. Say you go to an art stream, create a good report in chat and then just ask them blatantly if they were to read a story what would it be about? Find out what they are into and then get to writing and make it good, no, make it excellent. Post a link if it is allowed to the finished story ideally during that same stream. It might be argued as being unethical because you're taking away from the stream but if you get permission first RUN WITH IT.

Doing the above could potentially do several different things, one you're writing for an audience that you know will like the subject matter within the story. Two, they are reading your content! Three, you may catch a few folks who enjoy your style, your content, and want more. How do they find more, well they browse your account. But all of this is for nothing if your first paragraph is boring. As long as you get them to read one paragraph of the story and get them hooked, that is generally all you need. I know this post came across as a stream of conscious, which it was, but I do hope it at least throws a flint's spark on the pile of kindling that is your stories.

As with anything, persistence is the key. Keep doing the thing, and you will get better. This applies in a very wide field, not just literature. However, we are on this topic, and I will tell you three quick observations I made during my rise to power. (I'm not an evil, cruel overlord yet, but I'm getting there, my minions!)
1. Second guessing is bad. This might sound like plain advice, but when your super awesome story gets no recognition, you will feel bad about it. No excuses. Disappointment is normal, more-so when you are setting the bar high. So what can you do? My advice would be to press forward with your project. You might not get the desired or expected results, but you will learn a lot throughout the journey. You'll discover what works, what doesn't, and the experience alone will help make your next project a lot better.

2. Know your audience. If you are in the long haul, it pays knowing what you audience wants. In the furry community, that's obviously furry related artwork. The specifications are up to you to make. Many artists and writers put themselves above the crowd, and that limits your ability to be objective. I always said there are two kinds of writers: Those who seek to express themselves through art and literature, and those who want to make a living out of it. If you want to be a people pleaser, then you'd better be expected to please others, not just yourself. If you write for yourself, skipping this advice is highly recommended. Nothing is more frustrating than going miles out of your comfort zone without reaping any rewards from your hard labor.

3. Research, Read, Re-do. The 3 R's I came up on the spot right here, right now. It might sound silly, but each of these pylons has its own well established role. How can you expect to expand your horizons and improve yourself without research? How can you find out new techniques without reading? How can you expect to become good at something without repeated training? You might find surprising answers to all those questions, but I firmly believe every acquired skill is like a muscle. It needs to be trained, expanded, and put through new trials in order to develop and reach its full potential.

Whenever I see people give advice about writing and how to git gud it always comes off as a self-help seminar or some kinda motivational speech from a marketing director. The only way to get good at writing is to hold yourself to high standards while at the same time having no standards at all. This means basically write about w/e you want, however stupid or crazy, and run it up the flag pole to see who salutes it while at the same time making sure it's quality work. Make it something you want to read, because chances are you'll be the only one reading it anyway in this fandom >_> and then read it over and over again fixing w/e you don't like.